When The Future Happened Before

When The Future Happened Before

{1} "We faced an extraordinary situation requiring an extraordinary response, and you don't want a constitutional, legal mandate for that kind of thing. You don't want to institutionalize the excesses required to meet extraordinary threats."
--Tom Charles Huston to Senate Intelligence Committee
The most recent White House scandal involving President Bush ordering the NSA to spy on American citizens is not new. As a full-page ad in the 12-29-05 New York Times reminded us, this is the same issue that the nation confronted during the Nixon years. Reports by the Times on the FBI's investigating anti-war activists, which must be viewed as part and parcel of the same administration policy, brings the 1970 Interagency Committee on Intelligence (Ad Hoc) to mind.
In reviewing that strange time, I used several sources, including: "The Future While It Happened," by Samuel Lubell (1973); "The American Police State," by David Wise (1976); "The Camera Never Blinks," by Dan Rather (1977); "The Imperial Presidency," by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (1973); "The Puzzle Palace," by James Bamford, (1982); and "The Secret Man," by Bob Woodward, (2005).
These authors present a clear picture of the dangers posed to our democracy by an executive branch that is using "national security" as the reason to ignore the constitution. The Bush administration uses 9-11 and technological advances as the reason they had to ignore the constitution and federal law. By no small coincidence, the Nixon administration made similar claims: the threat posed by the Nazis in WW2 was nothing compared to that of the communist menace, and stealing foreign code books was faster and less expensive than having the NSA "break" them. But the illegal activities advocated in the Huston Plan were not new.
{2} "We are now confronted with a new and grave crisis in our country -- one which we know little about. Certainly hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Americans -- mostly under 30 -- are determined to destroy our society."
-- Tom Charles Huston in a memo to President Richard Nixon
Tom Charles Huston was a 29-year old attorney when he joined the Nixon White House in 1969. He had been an Army Intelligence Officer before joining the research staff of Patrick Buchanan, Nixon's speech writer. Soon, however, Huston was promoted to a position in the White House's internal security. He was considered the resident expert in the "counter-culture," largely because he was more familiar with "youth issues" than men like Agnew, Buchanan and Haldeman. In fact, J. Edgar Hoover considered Huston to be a "hippie."
In the summer of 1969, Huston attended informal White House meetings of the most conservative members of the Nixon administration. The group, called the "Committee of Six," were pushing to have the IRS put pressure on what were considered political enemies on the democratic left. This resulted in the IRS forming the Special Services Staff, which would coordinate its work with the FBI and CIA.
Huston would urge them to collect intelligence on "ideological, militant, subversive, radical and similar type organizations." However, the SSS soon was investigating non-violent, patriotic draft protestors, peace demonstrators, and people who organized and attended "rock festivals."
On 6-20-69, Huston sent a memo to intelligence agencies, including the CIA, DIA, FBI, and NSA, stating that there was an increased need to target "foreign Communist support for revolutionary youth activities inside this country." He asked the agencies to identify gaps in their ability to confront the revolutionary youth movement in America. The results of his study left Huston and others from the Committee of Six convinced that the administration needed greater powers in confronting the internal threats to democracy facing America.
{3} "No amount of institutional or bureaucratic reform, or legislative remedies, can protect us against an evil President. We have created powerful intelligence mechanisms, and they will be misused if a President, in seeking domestic tranquillity, abandons the blessings of liberty."
-- David Wise, co-author of "The Invisible Government"
On 6-5-70, President Nixon had the representatives of the CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, and the secretary of HEW meet with Tom Charles Huston. Their goal was to devise a plan that would allow the intelligence agencies to spy on domestic and foreign targets. They formed the Interagency Committee on Intelligence (Ad Hoc).
The ICI considered problems involving electronic surveillances and penetration; surreptitious entry; legal restraints on communication intelligence; opening of mail; and other related issues. Huston worked closely with William Sullivan of the FBI, who by 1970 had an acrimonious relationship with FBI Director Hoover. The details of Huston's work, which focused largely upon allowing the NSA and CIA the ability to conduct domestic operations, also attempted to give the FBI the responsibility of the black bag jobs, or illegal break-ins.
Details of the Huston Plan can be found in Bamford's "The Puzzle Palace," chapter 6. The July report, known as the Huston Plan, included a warning to President Nixon: "Use of this technique is clearly illegal: it amounts to burglary. It is also highly risky and could result in great embarassment if exposed." However, Nixon would sign on to it. It was only after Hoover went to Attorney General Mitchell, who then advised Nixon of the dangers, that Nixon rescinded his approval. However, the ICI would continue to meet for the next three years.
{4} "This memorandum addresses the matter of how we can maximize the fact of our incumbency in dealing with persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration. Stated a bit more bluntly -- how can we use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."
-- John Dean, 8-16-71
After Hoover put Huston in check, John Dean was promoted take the lead on internal security operations. Along with Haldeman and Ehrlichman, he would help come up with a way the administration could go around the constraints on the intelligence agencies. They would create their own mini-intelligence agency, which would be known as "the Plumbers," because of the focus on stopping leaks to the press.
In June of 1971, the New York Times began to print the Pentagon Papers, which had been leaked by Daniel Ellsburg. The Plumbers would break into the office of Dr. Lewis Felding, a psychiatrist treating Ellsburg. While this is the best known break-in until the Watergate burglary, it was far from the only one.( For example, Dr. Robert Akeret, who was treating Mrs. Ellsburg, had his office broken into, hinting to historians that the Plame scandal was not actually the first time an administration targeted the wife of an "enemy," despite Dean's claims in "Worse Than Watergate.")
On 6-27-71, the New York Times published the resultsof a survey by the Potomac Associates, which showed a growing number of Americans were troubled by the Nixon administration's actions in Southeast Asia. The P.A. was headed by former NSC member William Watts, who resigned from Kissinger's staff over the invasion of Cambodia.
On 7-6, John Caufield would write a memo to Dean about the Potomac Associates. This would be the start of the White House's "Enemies List." Eventually, the P.A. would be broken into three times by Plumbers.
{5} "There is little real awareness in this country of the breadth and depth of a President's public relations and propaganda apparatus. Within the White House itself if he chooses to do so -- and President Nixon did -- he has the power to mount a campaign to wipe out anyone or anything."
-- Dan Rather
Early in the Nixon administration, CBS reporter Dan Rather became aware of how the White House falsely planted a story that his network "faking an incident in Vietnam, staging, or recreating, a battle scene." Rather worked to expose the administration's lie. He would become viewed as an enemy of the White House.
On 4-9-72, Jean Rather woke Dan around 1 am to say she believed there was a burglar in their house. When he attempted to call the police, Rather found his phone lines had been cut. After letting the burglar(s) know he had a gun, Rather was able to contact the police. They found that nothing of value, such as money, was taken. Instead, only his "reporter's files" had been broken into.
Rather and his family had been scheduled to be away from home that night. He was supposed to be traveling with President Nixon, until something unexpected changed his plans. But he was, like Daniel Schorr, targeted by the Nixon intelligence operations.
On 5-22-73, Seymour Hersch reported on the NSA's spying on Israel. On 8-1, the St. Louis Dispatch also reported that the Nixon administration had ordered the NSA to spy on two countries, assumed to be Israel and Tanzania. Nixon responded furiously that both JFK and LBJ had done much the same thing. In fact, this was accurate; the difference was that their concerns were national security, as opposed to political activities.
That summer, lawyers for the Weathermen requested any files that resulted from burglary, sabotage, electronic surveillance, agents provocateurs or other "espionage techniques." The Federal District Court Judge D.J. Keith, who was hearing their case, approved the motion. US Attorney W. L. Ibershef asked him to reconsider: "The government doesn't believe this is a proper forum for a trial of government misconduct."
The case went to the US Supreme Court. It determined that the president indeed has the constitutional duty to protect the nation, but that did not include the authority to order warrentless surveillance. No decision was reached on the issue of foreign powers. The US government would drop the charges in what is known as the Keith Case.
{6} "I cannot say that our country could have no central police without becoming totalitarian, but I can say with great conviction that it cannot become totalitarian without a centralized national police ..... a national police ... will have enough on enough people, even if it does not elect to prosecute them, so that it will find no opposition to its policies."
-- Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson
In 1975, the Church Committe hearings heard from J.J. Angleton, the legendary CIA leader. They were startled to hear an infamous quote from him: "It's inconceivable that a secret intelligence arm of the government has to comply with all the orders of the government."
And in 1980, ex-president Nixon testified in the trial of Mark Felt, for ordering "black bag jobs" on the family and friends of Weathermen. On 10-29, Nixon told the court that "what would otherwise be unlawful or illegal becomes legal" when the president orders it.
As Lubell wrote, "The drive for presidential power has been a drive to commit the future .... Once the fishhook of commitment becomes lodged in a nation's throat, voter opinion will thrash about furiously, like a powerful but helpless sailfish."

FISA in the Severed Garden

FISA in the Severed Garden

{1} "Secrecy -- the first refuge of incompetents -- must be at bare minimum in a democratic society, for a fully informed public is the basis of self-government. Those elected or appointed to positions of executive authprity must recognize that government, in a democracy, cannot be wiser than the people."
-- House Committee on Government Operations; 1960 Report
John Dean opens his book, "Worse Than Watergate," with the above quote. It seems to fit the most current scandal confronting the Bush2 administration, which was exposed by the New York Times for what appears to be illegal surveillance of American citizens by the National Security Agency.
The administration claims that President Bush has the right to ignore the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), based on his constitutional authority and the congressional resolution passed a week after 9-11, which allowed him the ability to use force against those who planned the attack on this country. Further, the administration claims that it kept congressional leaders from both parties updated on the NSA's spying on American citizens.
Even Arlen Specter (R-PA) disputes this. The 12-20-05 New York Times quotes him as saying, "I think it does not constitute a check and balance. You can't have the administration and a select number of members (of congress) alter the law. It can't be done." (page 24)
Further, the same article notes that Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) had sent a handwritten letter to VP Cheney, expressing his belief that "given the security restrictions associated with the information, and my inability to consult with staff or counsel on my own, I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities."
Clearly, the administration actions violate the FISA law. It is worth noting that FISA was introduced four years in a row by Senator Ted Kennedy in the 1970s, in order to try to establish protections of the civil rights of American citizens. Kennedy had worked hard with the Justice Department and members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and his bill was finally signed into law by President Carter on 10-25-78. (The Puzzle Palace; James Bamford; 1982; page 462)
Let's take a closer look at the balance of powers defined by the U.S. Constitution, and see how it relates to the executive branch of government, war powers, the congress, and the federal courts. Perhaps then we can decide if President Bush, and maybe even VP Cheney, have abused the power entrusted to them.
{2} "Nixon's Presidency was not an aberration but a culmination. .... But full recovery seemed unlikely unless the President himself recognized why his Presidency had fallen into such difficulties. Nixon's continued invocation, after Watergate, of national security as the excuse for presidential excess, his defense to the end of unreviewable executive privilege, his defiant assertion that, if he had it to do over again, he would still deceive Congress and the people .... suggested that he still had no clue as to what his trouble was, still failed to understand that the sickness of his Presidency had been caused, not by the overzealousness of his friends nor by the malice of his enemies, but by the expansion and abuse of presidential power itself."
-- The Imperial Presidency; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr; 1973; page 416.
The single best book on the issues involved in the tension between the executive branch of the federal government and the legislature and judiciary is Schlesinger's classic, "The Imperial Presidency." The Founding Fathers intended there to be a balance of powers in the federal government; this would be achieved by a series of checks and balances defined by the Constitution.
In their wisdom, they recognized that this balance would create an inertia, that would keep each of the three branches from "power-grabbing." The exception to this has been in times of national emergency -- specifically in times of war -- when the executive office has been allowed a larger degree of power than at other times. While the constitutional lawyers through the ages have debated the extent of the presidential "war powers," there is a "constitutional custom" which is not unlike having the vice president become president in the event of the president's death. Contrary to "popular notion," the 83 words in Article II, Section I, Clause 5 do not specifically state that the vp becomes president, though in practice this has become the custom. (Four Days in November; Staff of New York Times; 2003; page 172.)
Thus, Schlesinger's book "does not deal systematically with all the facets and issues of presidential power. ...Nor does it deal primarily with the shift in the political balance between Congress and the Presidency .... It deals essentially with the shift in the constitutional balance -- with, that is, the appropriation by the Presidency, and particularly by the contemporary Presidency, of powers reserved by the Constitution and by long historical practice to Congress.
"This process of appropriation took place in both foreign and domestic affairs. especially in the twentieth century, the circumstances of an increasingly perilous world as well as of an increasingly interdependent economy and society seemed to compel a larger concentration of authority in the Presidency .... above all, from the capture by the Presidency of the most vital of national decisions, the decision to go to war." (pages viii-ix)
Schlesinger notes how in the 1950s, the executive office moved towards greater authority to use intelliegence agencies to spy upon American citizens. The people were told that this was required to protect their safety and to insure their civil rights. They were told that the country no longer was confronted by an enemy as limited as the Nazis; now they were threatened by the communist menace, which included potential domestic enemies. This sounds very similar to today's message that we no longer face the limited enemies of the past, and that today's demons include potential domestic enemies.
It is interesting to note that during the Eisenhower administration, because of fears the communists had nuclear weapons that threatened Washington DC, plans were made to have a "shadow government" run the country on an emergency basis -- if the nation's capital was indeed attacked.
{3} "Perhaps it is a universal truth that loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad." -- Madison to Jefferson; 5-13-1798;(The Complete Madison; 1953; page 258)
In the past two years, in a series of essays on this blog and on the political discussion forum the "Democratic Underground," I have suggested that many of the current problems in the executive branch stem from the corruption of the Nixon years. Nixon, of course, was Eisenhower's vice president, and there are some fascinating connections between the "shadow government" proposed in the '50s, and domestic spying.
In a recent essay on VP Cheney, I quoted from James Bamford's "A Pretext for War," his 2004 book on "9-11, Iraq, and the abuse of America's intelligence agencies." Bamford traces the up-graded plans for a "shadow government" which took place under the Reagan administration. He notes that Dick Cheney played a significant role in this planning.
In the past week, Bamford has been interviewed on numerous shows, primarily on MSNBC, about the NSA. This is in part because in 1982 he published "The Puzzle Palace," a book on America's most secret intelligence organization that the NSA actually tried to suppress. Bamford has also worked as an Investigative Producer for ABC's World News Tonight; and has written extensively on the Iran-Contra scandal, the Korean Airlines shootdown, and the mafia.
Perhaps we should look closer at one section of The Puzzle Palace.
{4} "Following his denunciation of Hoover, Huston, in an attachment entitled 'Operation Restraints on Intelligence Collection,' and labeled 'Top Secret/Handle Via Comint Channels Only,' set out his recommendations on which restraints the President should lift. Of the first four, three dealt, significantly, with the NSA."
--The Puzzle Palace; Bamford; page 346.
In the years before the Watergate scandal became well-known, the Nixon White House was obsessive about gathering secret information on all "enemies" -- including political opposition. The later investigations revealed that in 1970, Nixon had a young White House aide named Tom Charles Huston come up with a plan that would allow intelligence agencies such as the FBI, CIA, NSA, and MI use electronic surveillance, illegal opening of mail, and unauthorized break-ins to keep track of "domestic security threats." Huston wrote a memo to Nixon that stated these actions were "clearly illegal." Still, Nixon gave his approval, until FBI Director Hoover protested.
Bamford notes, on page 348, "Just over a week later, on July 23, Huston put the final touches on the plan and sent it off via courier to various agencies. When Gayler, Tordella, and Buffham received their copies, there was, no doubt, a victory celebration. From the very first, Tordella had regarded Huston and the ICI meetings as, in his own words, 'nothing less than a heaven-sent opportunity for NSA.' Now they had, in black and white, the presidential authorization to do what they had been doing all along. In addition, Tordella could once again order embassy buggings and break-ins from the FBI."
Hoover no doubt understood the Huston Plan would put his agency in legal jeopardy if the criminal activities were uncovered. Yet it is worth noting that Mark Felt, who was later convicted for "black bag jobs," found Huston offensive. In "The Secret Man," Bob Woodward notes that the man known to history as "Deep Throat" would later write "that he considered Huston himself 'a kind of White House gauleiter over the intelligence community.' The four-inch-thick Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary defines gauleiter as 'the leader or chief official of a political district under Nazi contro'." (page 34)
{5} "The whole purpose of democracy is that we may hold counsel with one another, so as not to depend upon the understanding of one man, but to depend upon the counsel of all." -- Woodrow Wilson
One of the people most upset by the Watergate scandal was Dick Cheney. Unlike the vast majority of Americans, Cheney viewed it as an infringement on executive powers. He did not support the efforts to re-establish a constitutional balance of powers among the three branches of the federal government.
In "A Pretext for War," Bamford documents how the during the Reagan years, the old plan for a "shadow government" made in the Eisenhower era, was updated. "Given overall responsibility for the secret government was Vice President George H. W. Bush, with Lt. Col. Oliver North, a key player in the Iran-contra scandal, as the National Security Council action officer. The operation was hidden under the covert name 'National Program Office,' ....Among the key players in the shadow government were Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and James Woolsey.
"At the time, Cheney was a congressman from Wyoming; Rumsfeld was CEO of G.D. Searle & Co., ....and Woolsey was a lawyer in private practice ......The existence of the secret government was so closely held that Congress was completely bypassed. Rather than through legislation, it was created by Top Secret presidential fiat. In fact, Congress would have no role in the new wartime administration." (pages 72-4)
President Bush1 kept the NPO going; however Clinton, recognizing that the Cold War was over, ended it. The Bush2 administration would reinstate it before 9-11, although there was no notice to congress. In fact, in the morning hours of 9-11, the president and vice president made the NPO operational: numerous representatives of executive branch departments and business leaders were taken from Washington DC and brought to underground bunkers, and the "shadow government" took control of America.
{6} "Bush acknowledged yesterday that the administration had taken extensive measures to guarantee 'the continuity of government,' after it was revealed that about 100 top officials, spanning every executive branch department, had been sent to live and work in two fortified locations on the East Coast. "
-- "Congress Not Advised of Shadow Government"; Amy Goldstein and Juliet Eilperin; The Washington Post; 3-2-02
In early March, 2002, The Washington Post broke the news that the Bush administration had instituted a "shadow government" on 9-11. It was confirmed that the administration did not inform the House or Senate. In fact, CBS News reported on 3-2 that "civilins deployed for the operation are not allowed to take their families and may not tell anyone where they are going or why." These restrictions are very similar to those that VP Cheney gave congressional leaders such as Senator Rockefeller on the domestic spying. This is not a coincidence.
CBS reported, "The government-in-waiting is an extension of a policy that has kept Vice President Dick Cheney in secure, undisclosed locations away from Washington. Cheney has moved in and out of public view as threat levels have fluctuated."
The Washington Post reported that the administration, which had not notified the House or Senate in the six months the "shadow government" had been in power, had rotated officials every 90 days. Their article also noted that some members of congress had expressed concern that the administration had not informed them of this drastic action.
"There are two other branches of government that are central to the functioning of our democracy," the article quoted Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass) as noting. "I would hope the speaker and the minority leader would at least pose the question, 'What about us?' "
{7} "Only hours after the September 11 attacks, the administration installed a 'shadow government' of about a hundred senior executive branch officials to live and work secretly ... White House chief of staff Andrew Card directs the shadow government from the White House, where he is immune from giving testimony to Congress (have we heard this before?). ....Of course, this shadow government consists of one branch only, the executive branch. .... (T)he Congress has not sanctioned the shadow government, nor were members of Congress even made aware of its existence until the story was leaked in March 2002. This shadow government has been described as an 'indefinite precaution,' which can mean anything. While a few newspaper stories appeared in March 2002, very little new information has been reported since then. The shadow government is presumed to continue its operation outside of congressional oversight."
--Losing America (confronting a reckless and arrogant presidency); Senator Robert Byrd; 2004; pages 78-9.
Senator Byrd and John Dean are two of the only people brave enough to report on the shadow government, besides Bamford. In "Worse Than Watergate," Dean has a section "Hiding and Politicizing a Contingent Government," on pages 120-124. He notes that immediately after the 9-11 attacks, many in the executive branch were concerned with the possibility that al Qaeda could strike Washington DC with one of the two or more "Soviet-manufactored suitcase nukes (which) may have fallen into bin Laden's hands." (page 123) Dean lists several foreign intelligence sources that were convinced that some of the more than 100 of these bombs, capable of destroying a city the size of Washington DC, had likely been bought by al Qaeda.
The original "shadow government" plans made under Eisenhower, as well as those up-dated under Reagan, were specific responses to a nuclear attack. While many Americans believe that Usama bin Laden is a CIA creation, the article "September 11, 2001 (A Tuesday)," by Gore Vidal, which The Nation refused to print, noted, "Where does Osama's money now come from? He is a superb fund-raiser for Allah but only within the Arab world; contrary to legend, he has taken no CIA money." (See: "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace," by Vidal, 2002, page6.) Certainly, the administration believed on 9-11 and shortly thereafter that there was a serious chance of Washington being attacked, as Dean details so well.
{8} "There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their supreme confidence in themselves -- and lose their roughness and spirit of defiance -- Tyranny may enter -- there is no charm, no bar against it -- the only bar against it is a large resolute breed of men."
-- Walt Whitman; Notes for Lectures on Democracy; 1928; page 58.
Schlesinger writes that, "In that spirit I would argue that what the country needs today is a little serious disrespect for the office of the Presidency..."(page 411) A reasonable person could understand why the administration took steps to try to protect the country, including Washington, in the hours and first days after the 9-11 attack. Yet the Constitution makes clear that these types of actions are only to be taken until such time the congress can be consulted. The administration moved to strip the congress of power, and to exclude the judicial branch from any role beyond that which the executive outlined to meet its needs. This included the intelligence agencies ignoring the FISA, and spying on US citizens.
It is no coincidence that the New York Times also reported on the FBI's spying on domestic groups that were defined as "activists" in politcal and social issues. As the Nixon years proved without a doubt, executive grabs for power beyond what the Constitution defines leads to efforts to target political opponents. The outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame is the most obvious example of the Bush2 administration's illegal abuses of intelligence for political purposes.
But it is not the only example. In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, Anthony Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, wrote, "With so many unanswered questions, the only way to get to the bottom of this controversy is to appoint a special counsel with sufficieshadow governmentnt independence and legal authoricontext of the ty" to investigate the administration. I think it is clear the controversy must be viewed in the context of the "shadow government."

Stephen Hadley & the Plame Scandal

{1} "I've also seen press reports from White House officials saying I am not one of his sources. .... It is what it is." -- Stephen Hadley's non-answer to journalists asking if he was Bob Woodward's source on Valerie Plame's identification, 11-'05.

When the news that Bob Woodward had known about Valerie Plame approximately a week before Lewis Libby told Judith Miller, administration supporters claimed this could destroy the case being made by Patrick Fitzgerald. Surely, there could have been no conspiracy to out Plame as a CIA operative if Bob Woodward of Watergate fame was involved. However, as soon as the question was asked, "Who told Woodward?", things went downhill for the administration.

The majority of media sources reported that Woodward's source was unknown. They speculated who it might not be, and flashed Dick Armitage's photo on the tv screen, but very few sources reported who actually told Woodward about Valerie Plame.

However, the Sunday Times reporters Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter reported that lawyers close to the case said that Stephen Hadley was Woodward's source. They noted a NSC spokesperson denied that Hadley was involved. Raw Story's Larisa Alexandrovna and Jason Leopold also reported that Hadley was indeed Woodward's source; they based their report on attorneys connected to the case, and an intelligence source.

Woodward has joined Judith Miller in the journalists who have betrayed their co-workers and the public. They deserve the contempt of everyone who is concerned about the Bush administration's outing of a covert CIA agent. It is important, though, to focus as well on the man who exposed Valerie Plame's identity to Bob Woodward.

{2} "To say that a security policy based on nuclear weapons was 'irresponsibile' and 'immoral' from the outset is to accuse the United States government of pursuing a policy that was irresponsible and immoral. Such serious and false accusations against a democratic government destroys public confidence in our constitution and our leaders."
--Stephen Hadley; Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law

This little quote from Mr. Hadley may surprise some readers who are not familiar with him, beyond the rather mild and unassuming fellow seen a bit more frequently since Scooter Libby was indicted. But that is pure Hadley, a man who was advocating that the U.S. be prepared to use nuclear weapons against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. Hadley felt we could take no chances with a mad man like Saddam, and was convinced that Iraq's WMDs were reason to strike the Iraqi capital city with a nuclear weapon .... for security's sake.

President Bush1 opted for a more sane policy, however, and did not invade Iraq, much less conduct a nuclear strike on Baghdad. However, there remained a group of people within the Bush1 administration who were still convinced that Saddam's WMDs were a threat to our national security. In my last essay, I wrote about Dick Cheney, and traced his relationship first with Donald Rumsfeld, and then the two's association with the "neoconservatives" who came to power in the Bush2 administration. Stephen Hadley is a central player in this.

In a June 12, 2003 article in the New York Review of Books, Elizabeth Drew noted that Hadley was one of two "principal allies" of VP Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby's core group. The other was John Bolton. Hadley had been associated with these people for decades. He was also a co-worker and close friend of Elliot Abrams, who pled guilty to lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal.

{3} "The challenges facing our great country, from within and from without, demand that 'we, the people' scrutinize with utmost care anyone who would be so bold as to ask to shoulder the colossal task of leading the United States of America."
-- Senator Robert Byrd; Losing America; 2004; page 18.

Let's take a look at some of the history of this quiet workaholic, who Dick Cheney learned to rely upon in the Bush1 administration. Hadley was a graduate of Yale in 1972. From there, he became an analyst for the Department of defense in the Nixon administration, from 1972-74.

From 1974 to '77, he was a member of the NSC under President Ford. He would then be connected to Shea & Gardner, a law firm representing Lockheed and Martin. There he was closely associated with James Woolsey. Hadley would also serve on the National Security Advisary Panel to the Director of the CIA.

In 1986-87, Hadley was a counsel for the Tower Commission, investigating the illegal sale of arms to Iran. Considering his close personal friendship with Elliot Abrams, among others, one might question if Hadley should have recognized a possibility -- however slight -- that he might not be entirely objective.

From 1989 to 1993, Hadley served Dick Cheney in the Defense Department in the Bush1 administration. His title was Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy. In my essay on Cheney, I noted that Dick was not among the founding members of the neocon movement; rather, like Rumsfeld, he would become closely associated with them in the 1980s, bringing his ability as a "systems man" who fronted for the oil and defense industries. Hadley, as we see, was among the neocons with an intelligence background, who schooled Cheney.

{4} "It was getting a little too heated for the kind of meeting Steve Hadley liked to chair ...."
-- Richard Clarke; Against All Enemies; 2004; page 232.

The NSC's counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke would brief a number of the in-coming Bush2 officials about the threat posed to the USA by al Qaeda. Among those that he and Sandy Berger would meet with were Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, and Stephen Hadley. Clarke has told of his attempts to focus the new administration on Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

In part, Clarke asked Hadley, who he had been friends with since the Bush1 administration, to call meetings of cabinet-level principals. This led to what was known as the "deputies group," which included Hadley and Paul Wolfowitz,Dick Armitage, John McLaughlin, and Scooter Libby. From the beginning, Wolfowitz disagreed strongly with Clarke and Armitage's belief that al Qaeda was the greatest threat to US security, at home and abroad. Wolfowitz would start a number of arguments, stating that too much attention was being paid to bin Laden, and not enough to Saddam and Iraq.

It was in these meetings that Hadley would attempt to find a compromise. Hadley noted there was a "cluster" of hot-spots in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and also India's selling weapons to potential enemies of the USA.

Between 5-31 and 7-26-01, the deputies group met four times to discuss a "phased strategy" for dealing with Iraq. It included the no fly zones; economic pressures; and support of opposition groups within the country. It did not make any plans for regime change, which was clearly Wolfowitz's goal.

When Hadley testified before the 9-11 Commission, he stated that he did not believe that Rice and he had the job of coordinating domestic agencies before the 9-11 attacks.

{5} "Hadley saw the process as makeshift. 'Come as you are.' They were making it up as they went." -- Bob Woodward; Bush At War; page 182

Hadley worked closely with Donald Rumsfeld on the war in Afghanistan. In the book "Bush At War," it is also evident that Hadley had a close relationship with author Bob Woodward. Hadley explained to Woodward that he felt Rumsfeld was frustrated by a lack of communication and coordination with the CIA. Hadley spoke about his beliefs to his boss, Condi Rice, who advised him to approach Rumsfeld. Hadley felt that Rumsfeld should take a more direct approach to CIA director Tenet. Woodward's text indicates a manipulative, behind-the-scenes approach by Hadley.

Part of Hadley's other responsibilities in the Bush1 administration included working closely with Michael Gerson, a presidential speech writer. Gerson had been with Bush since he was the governor of Texas. A self-desribed "evangelical Christian," Gerson felt that Bush was destined to play a central role in American politics, and he wanted to be part of what he believed was God's will.

An example of Hadley and Gerson's work is the infamous "Axis of Evil" speech. Gerson had started with "axis of hatred," which Hadley molded to "axis of evil." There was pressure from the neocon forces to focus on Iraq; others advocated including others, so that it would not be as obvious that the administration was planning to attack Saddam. Hadley did not want to include Iran, because he believed that the US would use the progressive influence of people like Ahmad Chalabi to change Iranian politics. The president insisted on including Iran with the other two.

Hadley's thoughts on the correct way to use the CIA, and his speech-writing skills, would continue to play a significant role when the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq.

{6} "I don't know where the neocons came from .... Somehow, the neocons captured the president. They captured the vice president."
-- General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.); Centcom Commander, 1998-2000

Stephan Hadley was connected to three groups that were involved in the Iraqi invasion. The first, known as the Executive Steering Group (ESG), was geared for integrated coordination of efforts on Iraq. Hadley selected Frank Miller of the NSC to head up the group. Miller, a former Navy officer, had worked at Defense for Dick Cheney in the past. Woodward, of course, has a Naval intelligence "background."

Hadley also worked closely with Douglas Feith, who ran the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans (OSP). Feith did intelligence evaluations for Hadley and Scooter Libby. From James Bamford's "A Pretext for War," (page 317), we know that Feith had set a goal of not simply showing the administration "how to fight Saddam Hussein, but also how to fight the NSC, the State Department, and the intelligence community ...", indeed, anyone who doubted that Saddam was the greatest terrorist threat in the world.

Hadley was the individual who convinced Dick Cheney that Mohamed Atta met in the Czech Republic with an Iraqi intelligence officer before 9-11, even though this theory was discredited. Hadley had gone to CIA HQs to attempt to find links between Iraq, WMD production, and terrorists. He was, with men like Feith, Libby, and Bolton, among those who convinced Cheney and Rumsfeld that the OSP intelligence was superior to the CIA's or State Department's.

When President Bush was preparing an address for Cincinnati on 10-7-02, CIA Director Tenet sent Hadley two e-mails, followed up by a phone call, specifically telling him to remove the Niger yellow cake reference.

A week later, Joseph Wilson had an op-ed on Saddam in the San Jose Mercury News. Brent Scrowcroft reportedly took a copy to the White House, where he shared it with Condi Rice and Stephen Hadley. The following spring, Rice would deny that anyone near her was aware of Wilson, his mission to Niger, or the concerns about the yellow cake. She first attempted to blame Tenet, and soon blamed Hadley, for this being in Bush's State of the Union Speech.

Hadley was among the members of the WHIG that met in VP Cheney's office from March of 2003 onward, preparing a "work-up" on Wilson.

{6} "The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause." -- Grigory Pomerants; dissident Russian philosopher; (from Patrick Buchanan's "Where the Right Went Wrong.")

This essay provides information on Stephen Hadley. Keep it in mind as Patrick Fitzgerald goes foreward with his investigation of the Plame scandal.

18.5 : Dick Cheney

"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications ....

"In the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarrented influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastorous rise of misplaced power exists.

"We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."
-- President Dwight D. Eisenhower; January 17, 1961

{1} Who is Dick Cheney?

In the years since Eisenhower warned the nation about the potential threat that the military-industrial complex poses to the democratic process, Dick Cheney has been a part of every republican administration except one -- that of two-term President Ronald Reagan. Because of his secretive manner, many Americans know little about him. He has been considered the "co-president" in the Bush2 administration, and ranks as perhaps the single most powerful vice president in history, yet his actual role remains largely unknown.

Parts of two reports from earlier this week are significant: first, on MSNBC's "HardBall," host Chris Matthews noted that Cheney has never been considered one of the "brains" of the neoconservative movement he fronts for. Rather, he has been of value because of his business connections and political skills. Second, retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern reported that many of Washington's "insiders" are discussing the possibility that Cheney is preparing to retire in early 2006.

Timing is important in all things political. Why might VP Cheney be considering stepping down? Could it be that his ranking as the most unpopular figure in the administration has resulted in President Bush looking to distance himself from Cheney? Perhaps Cheney's close association with Donald Rumsfeld, also rumored to be "looking forward to spending time with his family,"
both of whom are associated with the failed war in Iraq and the looming torture scandal? Or, might it be that VP Cheney is aware that Lewis Libby's defense on the Plame indictments will expose his role in a criminal cover-up?

It seems possible that Patrick Fitzgerald is taking a close look at Richard Cheney. He is not concerned with the image created for public consumption by those engaged in "perception management" for the neoconservatives. Instead, Fitzgerald has been examing who Dick Cheney really is, and how that plays into Cheney's role in the exposure of Valerie Plame's identity and the cover-up that followed.

Perhaps we should take a closer look at VP Cheney, too.

{2} Cheney's Vietnam Experience

The American participation in the war in Vietnam, which began in the Eisenhower years, would play a central role in the lives of most Americans of Dick Cheney's generation. As we will see, the war was something that even the young Dick Cheney felt strongly about. Unlike many of the people his age, Dick believed that the war was a patriotic effort, and well worth the investment of American lives.

However, Dick believed that other people should fight, kill, and die in the jungles of Vietnam. Now, in the world of politics, most of the men from Cheney's generation have their military experience from that era examined closely. Men like Al Gore and John Kerry had records to be proud of. George W. Bush had been in the National Guard, as a result of family connections; those same connections allowed him to avoid meeting his obligations. In Dick's case, he got a half-dozen deferments that allowed him to avoid serving in the war he supported so fully.

This is of interest to us not so much in the political sense, as far as it applies to considering Dick. He is most likely not running for office again soon. Still, it is worth noting that in the numerous campaigns Cheney was involved in, he would only been asked pointedly about his lack of military service. He responded by saying he had "other priorities" at that time.

Thus we see that Dick Cheney was able to learn enough about a system to manipulate it fully, as his deferments show, to his advantage. And "his advantage" included having others do the high risk fighting that he was too cowardly to do himself. These are the things that someone like Patrick Fitzgerald will consider as among the most important qualities that Dick displayed in this time period.

{3} "Watergate at its core was -- pure and simple -- a power struggle." John Dean; Worse Than Watergate; page 196.

In 1969, Dick Cheney was hired to work in the Nixon administration. His political career would be closely tied to that of the man who hired him: Donald Rumsfeld. Together, they ran the Office of Economic Opportunitites.

Cheney would, more than many of the younger political folks of his generation, see Watergate as less of a problem of criminal behaviors on the administration's part, than as part of a larger struggle between the three branches of the federal government. Cheney believed strongly that the executive office should be the strongest of the three. He was convinced that President Nixon was betrayed by some in the intelligence agencies, who helped the House and Senate damage the administration by leaking state secrets.

Though he felt that Nixon should have fought to maintain power by any means necessary, Dick Cheney would find a job in an investment firm in 1973. Again, Cheney moves away from the struggle he believes in so strongly. Equally significant is that he is developing strong ties to a business world that appreciates the favors that a man with political connections can provide. Dick has learned how to manipulate the system for his own needs. He is a crony capitalist.

Don Rumsfeld would again hire Dick Cheney to work for him in the Ford administration. He became Rumsfeld's deputy Chief of Staff. They were bitter about what they considered the humiliating defeat in Vietnam, which they believed had greatly weakened the United States on the world stage.

While both Rumsfeld and Cheney were considered to be from the "crony capitalist" branch of the republican party, they would become allied with a branch of radical democrats, who were associated with the military hawk, Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. These people represented the beginning of the true neoconservative movement. Like the corporations that valued men who could move easily between government and business, the neoconservatives found both Rumsfeld and Cheney to be of great value.

Thus, the two would influence President Ford to take up an aggressive foreign policy, while moving sharply to the right on domestic issues. In particlar, Cheney was concerned that the old California governor, Ronald Reagan, would attempt to unseat Ford in the 1976 primaries. Though the history of that era has been glossed over by republicans since, at the time Reagan was considered divisive, and was not fully accepted by some of the corporate interests that Cheney represented. He and Rumsfeld believed it was essential that they keep Ford in office.

In order to prepare for the expected primary run against Reagan, the person they believed posed the greatest threat to President Ford, they urged him to get rid of three people in his administration. Thus, Ford dumped Defense Secretary James Schlesinger; national security advisor Henry Kissinger; and VP Nelson Rockefeller. They also urged him to drop efforts for the SALT II Treaty.

Ford survived his primary challenges, of course, but lost to democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. A journalist named Robert Novak wrote, "(deputy) White House Chief of Staff Richard Cheney is blamed by Ford insiders for a succession of campaign blunders..."

{4} "Few U.S. industries sing the praises of free enterprise more loudly than the oil industry. Yet few industries rely so heavily on special government favors. These favors are defended in the name of national security." -- Milton Friedman; Newsweek; June 26, 1967

During the Reagan years, Dick Cheney would use his contacts with U.S. corporations to his best interests. He would become, as a congressman from Wyoming, one of only 21 who opposed the Clean Water Act. He was opposed to extending the historic Civil Rights Act; voted to cut funding to the Veteran's Administration; and attempted to prevent the EPA from forcing industry to pay for the clean-ups of SuperFund sites. Cheney was noted for being one of the "top five" radical conservatives in Congress.

Cheney was of particular value to two "special interests": first, the energy corporations, including several based in Texas, found Representative Cheney a capable advocate; more, the growing neoconservative movement, which was interested in placing "neocons" in both elected and un-elected positions in Washington, saw that Cheney could promote their policies, particularly as they related to the Middle East.

Thus, when President George H. W. Bush took office, Cheney would return to the executive branch. Although Secretary of State James Baker warned Bush1 to keep Cheney "at arm's length," he made Dick Cheney the head of the Defense Department. And, while it struck some as odd that Bush1 would put a draft-dodger in charge of the military, events would soon show that Cheney's service to the energy corporations played the more significant role.

Just as Reagan did not offer Cheney a position in his administration, Bush1 had not offered one to Rumsfeld. This is significant in helping us understand that even in the republican party, there are differences of opinion, factions, and in-fighting. Thus, while the images of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam as he prepared to sell him deadly weapons stands out, Dick Cheney was more closely tied to other oil interests in the Middle East. By the time that Iraq prepared to invade Kuwait, the Bush1 administration was sending very mixed messages. Cheney, who favored Kuwait, had made some statements indicating the U.S. would not allow Iraq to invade their neighbor. Yet other administration voices countered that there was no American interests involved.

When Iraq invaded, President Bush1 began an effort to organize a large alliance to remove Saddam's forces from Kuwait. He sent Cheney to Saudi Arabia, to convince the royal family to allow the United States to station troops in the Islamic Holy Land. Cheney, along with his top aide, Paul Wolfowitz, convinced the Saudis that Saddam had plans to destabilize their country next, in an effort to control all of the Middle East. They reached an agreement that US troops could be stationed in Saudi Arabia for the brief time needed to kick Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.

In his description of events in "Against All Enemies," Richard Clarke describes his surprise when Cheney became upset that Clarke was able to line up numerous allies. "Stop asking them," Cheney ordered Clarke, who concluded that Cheney seemed intent on having the US troops go beyong an international agreement to "free" Kuwait: Cheney, he believed, wanted the US to invade Iraq. (see pages 57-61)

When the Gulf War ended without an invasion of Iraq, the neocons were furious. Cheney believed that Saddam could thumb his nose at the US, making it almost as much of a failure of our military power as Vietnam. At the time, Cheney made clear what his true concern was: on page 313 of Kevin Phillip's "American Dynasty," Cheney is quoted as saying that Saddam would "seek domination of the entire Middle East," and attempt to "take control of a great portion of the world's energy supply."

In an effort to advocate for the neoconsevatives, Cheney had Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby write a "classified blueprint to set US policy direction for the next century," as Patrick Buchanan details in "Where The Right Went Wrong." (page 42) The plan called for the US to set up large and permanent military bases on 6 continents, to deter any "potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role." Their stated goal was to establish a "new world order."

Democratic senators, including Biden and Kennedy, noted that the neocon plan would increase the budget of the military-industrial complex to levels far above that of the Cold War. As Defense secretary, Cheney began turning huge portions of this government investment in military support operations over to PMCs, or "private military corporations."

Also, as noted on page 72 of "A Pretext for War," by James Bamford, Cheney was assigned by the president to work upon a plan outlined by Ollie North for a "shadow government" that would take control of the United States in times of national emergency. The plan would have no imput from either branch congress, or from the judiciary, because it would suspend the constitution. Cheney worked with Donald Rumsfeld, at the time the CEO of GD Searle & Co., and James Woolsey, then a private attorney, on the plan.

It is worth noting that it was during this time that Dick Cheney established ties with a shadowy figure from the Middle East, named Ahmad Chalabi. Cheney and the neocons were hoping that Chalabi, the head of a "shadow government" in waiting, the Iraqi National Congress, would replace Saddam Hussein.

{5} Texas Radio and the Big Beat

During the Clinton presidency, Dick Cheney became the head of Halliburton. It was at a time when he was able to overlap his positions and linkages with interests including Texas oil, Ken Lay and Enron, and Chalabi. Dick Cheney represented a combination of crony capitalism and neoconservative politics.

In 1995, New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato introduced a bill to ban trade with Iran. Cheney strongly opposed it. Though the US would restrict commerce with Iran, the conservative senator would lose backing among the radical branches of the party, and would lose in his attempt to be re-elected. The neocons were sending a message.

Cheney and his friend Donald Rumsfeld were among those who pressured President Clinton to fund Chalabi and his INC. Dick was active in attempting to advance corporate interests in the Middle East, despite any concerns that these moves were not in the best interests of the US. In the 2000 campaign, Cheney would claim that as the Halliburton CEO, he "had a firm policy that we wouldn't do anything in Iraq." ("The Lies of George Bush"; David Corn; page 189) However, the Washington Post would find that two Halliburton subsidaries had $73 million contracts for equipment sales as part of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq.

From these actions, we get a picture of a man who believes in advancing the interests of his corporate world, in a coordinated effort with shadowy, corrupt figures such as Chalabi, despite the fact that it goes against the national interests. More, it shows Dick Cheney is willing to violate the law, though he favors having subordinates do it, and then to lie about it.

{6} "Principle is okay up to a certain point, but principle doesn't do any good if you lose." -- Dick Cheney, advice to aides in 1976.

Former President Bush1 suggested that Dick Cheney serve as his son's running mate in the 2000 election. It was widely recognized that his son lacked foreign policy experience, and having the older man as a "co-president" would serve to lessen conservative republican's concerns. In many ways, it was almost the opposite of Bush1 chosing Dan Quayle for the VP spot.

It was assumed Cheney would focus on national security issues. When Dick Clarke briefed him in January of 2001 on the threat from al Qaeda, Cheney appeared interested. He told Clarke that he would be going to CIA headquarters to learn more. Clarke felt this was good, because he knew CIA Director Tenet shared his concerns with al Qaeda. However, it soon became apparent that Cheney was more interested in Iraq and Saddam.

Cheney was also focused on the US energy policy. He had secret meetings with energy executives, including Ken Lay (at least 6 times), who had been the #1 funding source for Bush2's campaigns. VP Cheney refused to allow either the congress or the public to know the agenda of those meetings. From early on, it was clear that Cheney viewed executive politics as the "power play" contest of strength from the Watergate days. (Readers are encouraged to read Corn's book, particularly chapter 6 on "high-octane lies.")

From both Clarke and Paul O'Neill, we know that the administration had decided early on to remove Saddam from power in Iraq. Buchanan has noted that the Cheney memo from 1992 had become the official policy of the Bush administration in 2001.

Despite the warnings from Clarke and others, and even briefs with such subtle titles as "Bin Laden Seeks to Strike Within US," those in the administration who should have been aware of al Qaeda were instead focused on Saddam and Iraqi oil. The attacks of 9-11 occured on the Bush-Cheney watch.

It was later revealed that on that afternoon, the "shadow government" was put into place. This is detailed in John Dean's book, "Worse Than Watergate," James Bamford's "A Pretext for War," and Senator Robert Byrd's "Losing America." In theory -- or at least in Dick Cheney's mind -- this meant the suspension of congressional oversight, or judicial imposition of constitutional law. The man who viewed Watergate as a power struggle had made the ultimate grab at power, one that overshadowed anything Al Haig could have hoped for.

When shades of reality returned to Washington, DC, Cheney was among those most strongly opposed to any congressional investigation of 9-11. He told democrats that they risked doing serious damage to the war on terrorism. Not surprisingly, Cheney and his old friend Don Rumsfeld were among those advocating that the US respond to what had been identified as an al Qaeda attack on the nation by invading Iraq.

Most readers are familiar with the campaign to frighten America into supporting the Bush plan to invade Iraq: both the president and vice president would repeatedly speak of 9-11 and Saddam in the same breath; they skillfully used the media to imply that Iraq had been the state-sponsor of 9-11.

More, they began a campaign to convince the public that Saddam Hussein had WMDs which posed a serious threat to the United States. In August 2002, Cheney told Americans, "Simply stated, there's no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."

Also, "Many of us are convinced that Saddam Hussein will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon."

More, you say? How about, "What we know now, from various sources is that he .... continues to pursue a nuclear weapon." (August 7, 2002)

On August 26, he noted that could use a nuclear weapon to threaten "anyone he choses, in his region or beyond." And on September 8, "We do know, with absolute certainty..." Saddam was working on a nuclear weapon.

Cheney, Libby, and Newt Gingrich were making repeated trips to the CIA to pressure analysts to confirm their conclusions about Iraq and WMD. Although the administration has attempted to deny this, there were at least three complaints filed with the CIA ombudsman about the pressure being put on them.

Although the IAEA had reported in 1997 that Iraq had previously stopped attempts to buy nuclear weapons components, when Cheney saw a later report that indicated Italian intelligence had evidence that Iraq had sought to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger, he became very interested. He was told that previous investigations had discredited the report. However, he requested that the CIA re-evaluate the possibility.

People close to the administration and intelligence agencies have noted that it was in this period, that VP Cheney and his neocon friends became highly secretive, and began to rely more upon their own "intelligence operations." Thus, although the CIA sent at least two notes in October, reporting that their recent investigation (by Joe Wilson) had discredited the Niger report, the most rabid of neocons refused to accept the finding. Though the Niger information was removed from President Bush's speech that month in Ohio, it would be put into his State of the Union address three months later. More, although the White House has denied it, a CIA officer had informed an NSC official that the Niger report was false in January ..... but the neocons refused to believe it. ("The Lies of George W. Bush"; David Corn; page 294)

In March, the IAEA reported that after examing the Niger documents, they had concluded that they were crude forgeries. An administration official told CNN, "We fell for it." Shortly thereafter, Joseph Wilson told CNN that the administration had "more information" on this.

It was then that a group from the administration's "White House Iraqi Group" began to hold a series of meetings in VP Cheney's office, to do a "work up" on Wilson. It is known that Libby and Gingrich ran these meetings. It is unclear if Cheney attended them. The meetings were geared towards determining options for dealing with Wilson if he challenged the administration on the WMD claims.

In "Chain of Command," on page 239, Seymour Hersch reports that one of the more common theories is that some people believed a group of retired CIA operatives produced the crude Niger forgeries, in an effort to discredit the administration. That theory holds these people believed Cheney & friends would announce they had "proof" of WMD production, be humiliated when the documents were identified as forgeries, and that this would slow the march to invade Iraq, perhaps allowing UN inspectors enough time to conclude there were no WMD in Saddam's world.

Apparently, at least some of the Cheney forces believed this, and were intent upon punishing those in the CIA they believed were responsible. More, many people believe that the VP's office were concerned that the front group Wilson's wife worked for was coming dangerously close to uncovering something else they needed to hide.

For whatever the reason, VP Dick Cheney told Lewis Libby that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. And now, Patrick Fitzgerald is intent upon finding out what conversations went on between Cheney and Libby in regard to Valerie Plame.